------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 3121 2015 Nov 07 15.53UT Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4PP,England.Telephone/FAX(01256)471074Int:+441256471074 INTERNET: GUY@TAHQ.DEMON.CO.UK Backup: gmh@wdcc1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk WORLD WIDE WEB http://www.theastronomer.org ------------------------------------------------------------------- COMET C/2015 V2 (JOHNSON) J. A. Johnson reports the discovery of a comet on CCD images obtained with the Catalina Sky Survey's 0.68-m Schmidt telescope on 2015 Nov. 3.5UT, the object having a compact coma approximately 10"-15" in diameter with a possible tail in p.a. about 225 deg. 2015 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Observer Nov. 3.44273 8 18 13.15 +55 35 30.9 17.1 Johnson 3.45498 8 18 13.21 +55 35 35.1 " 3.46904 8 18 13.43 +55 35 38.8 17.1 " 3.48397 8 18 13.63 +55 35 47.0 17.2 " After the object was posted on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP, CCD astrometrists have also noted the object's cometary appearance. Twenty stacked 60-s images obtained by C. Jacques, E. Pimentel, and J. Barros with a 0.43-m f/4.3 reflector near Mayhill, NM, USA, on Nov. 3.5 UT show a condensed coma 5" in diameter that is elongated 9" towards p.a. 260 deg. V-band images taken by W. H. Ryan and E. V. Ryan with the Magdalena Ridge Observatory 2.4-m f/8.9 reflector on Nov. 4.3 show a coma and a small tail in p.a. about 250 deg. H. Sato, Tokyo, Japan, relates that eight stacked 60-s exposures taken on Nov. 4.33-4.34 with a 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph near Mayhill show the comet to be strongly condensed with a coma 8" in diameter, no tail, and a w-band magnitude of 16.5 as measured within a circular aperture of radius 5".7. CBET 4161 issued 2015 Nov 5 Ernesto. Guido, Italy, advises us that twelve stacked 120-s exposures, obtained remotely on Nov. 4.37 with an iTelescope 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph near Mayhill, show a compact coma nearly 10" in diameter, elongated toward p.a. 230 deg. M.P.E.C. 2015-V62: T 2017 June 3.64303 TT MPCW q 1.5740451 (2000.0) P Q Peri. 166.51708 -0.49033243 +0.50877050 Node 69.01055 -0.85330077 -0.11503266 e 1.0 Incl. 49.28034 -0.17734687 -0.85318232 >From 102 observations 2015 Nov. 3-6. Ephemeris: Date TT R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 2015 11 05 08 18 31.0 +55 45 57 6.0793 6.4156 105.5 17.0 2015 11 06 08 18 41.2 +55 52 44 6.0584 6.4073 106.3 17.0 2015 11 07 08 18 50.3 +55 59 35 6.0376 6.3989 107.1 17.0 2015 11 13 08 19 22.2 +56 41 48 5.9151 6.3488 111.7 16.9 2015 11 21 08 18 59.1 +57 40 38 5.7594 6.2817 117.8 16.8 2015 12 06 08 14 28.6 +59 34 45 5.4967 6.1552 128.2 16.6 Guy M Hurst